DEL ARNO BAND

Biography

Del Arno Band is a Serbian and former Yugoslav reggae band from Belgrade. Formed in 1986, Del Arno Band are considered the longest lasting Serbian reggae band, and one of the pioneers of Serbian and former Yugoslav reggae scenes.

Brothers Jovan (vocals) and Vladan Mati? (guitar), fans of reggae music, formed a ten-piece band in 1986, naming it Del Arno Band. After a series of successful live appearances, the band participated in the 1988 Subotica Youth Festival, entering the finals and eventually appearing on ...

Del Arno Band is a Serbian and former Yugoslav reggae band from Belgrade. Formed in 1986, Del Arno Band are considered the longest lasting Serbian reggae band, and one of the pioneers of Serbian and former Yugoslav reggae scenes.

Brothers Jovan (vocals) and Vladan Mati? (guitar), fans of reggae music, formed a ten-piece band in 1986, naming it Del Arno Band. After a series of successful live appearances, the band participated in the 1988 Subotica Youth Festival, entering the finals and eventually appearing on the The Best of 237 Festival various artists compilation with the song "Ne radim". This was their discography debut, recorded in the lineup which, beside the two, also featured Aleksandar Radosavljevi? (guitar), Miodrag Vidi? (bass guitar), Dragan Vidojevi? (drums), Vladimir Leši? (percussion), Bruno Garoti? (saxophone), Vladimir Vrani? (trumpet) and Slobodan Grozdanovi? (trombone).

During the early 1990, the band released their debut album, Igraj dok te ne sruše (Dance Until They Break You Down), released on compact cassette only, which beside their material also featured a cover version of the Burning Spear track with lyrics in Serbian language entitled "Ljudi dobre volje" ("People of Good Will"). The album was produced by the band themselves with the help of Miroslav Cvetkovi?. The following year, they released a single featuring the songs "Bi-Bap" ("Be-Bop") and "Putujem" ("I Am Travelling").

The recording of the concert held at the Belgrade SKC on February 21, 1992, was released on the live album Godina majmuna (The Year of the Monkey),[8] featuring quotations from reggae songs included into their own material and a cover version of starogradska muzika standard "?amac na Tisi" ("A Boat on the Tisa") by Darko Kralji?. During the same year, most of the band personnel had left the band, however, they managed to ensure a continuity in their work by releasing a compilation album Geneza (Genesis), featuring two newly recorded songs, "Iza ugla" ("Behind the Corner") and "DAB in dub", in 1993. The following year, a recording of an acoustic version of their song "Ima mesta za sve" ("There is a Place for Everyone"), performed at an unplugged festival held on January 1994, appeared on the live various artists unplugged album Bez struje (Unplugged), released by MTS Records.

After a long work break, and in a new lienup, the Mati? brothers reformed Del Arno Band, releasing the album Reggaeneracija (Reggaeneration), during the late 1995 in the lineup: Jovan Mati? "Yo-Van" (vocals, percussion), Vladan Mati? (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Dejan Utvar (drums), Darko Goli? (bass guitar), Milan Petri? "Puroni" (percussion), ?orde ?ur?i? (guitar), Aleksandar Petkovi? (saxophone), Nemanja Koji? (trombone), Dobroslav Predi? (trumpet), Zoja Borov?anin (backing vocals, violin) and Abu El Rub (backing vocals, flute). As guest on the album appeared Ekatarina Velika keyboardist Margita Stefanovi?, the band Pachamama, the Paganke trio and Sunshine vocalist Bane Bojovi?. On the album the band introduced diverse musical influences into the material, also present in the cover version of the Haustor song "Tre?i svijet" ("The Third World"), expanded with traditional music influences.

The following year, the band performed at the reprise of the Sun Splash reggae festival in Slovenia, also featuring prominent English reggae bands. During the late 1996, the band appeared on the Kornelije Kova? solo album Moja generacija (My Generation) with a cover version of the Korni Grupa song "Oj, dodole". They also participated the recording of a new version of the Serbian rapper Gru hit song "5ak" (a pun for "Friday"), released by Komuna on the compilation album Time Out in 1997. Two years later, in the Spring of 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the band often held free afternoon concerts at the Belgrade KST club.

In 2001, the band released the compilation album Retrospective, consisting of a selection of the most popular songs, demo recordings from the early phases and live material. In 2002, tha band appeared on the Milan Mladenovi? tribute album Kao da je bilo nekad... Posve?eno Milanu Mladenovi?u with a cover of Ekatarina Velika song "Novac u rukama" ("Money in My Hands").

In 2006, after a long work break, the band released their third studio album Vreme vode (Time of the Water), released by Automatik Records. The album featured the material composed by the Mati? brothers and recorded in a lineup which beside them also featured Veroljub Spasi? (drums), Marko Cvetkovi? (bass guitar), Marin Petri? (percussion), Milan Petrovi? (keyboards), ?orde ?ur?i? (guitar), Mihajlo Bogosavljevi? (trombone), Dobroslav Petrovi? (trumpet), Aleksandar Petkovi? (saxophone), Tatjana Popovi? (backing vocals) and Tatjana Šaleti? (backing vocals).

In 2010, the band members announced that they are working on the new studio album. On February 6, 2011, the band performed at the Belgrade KST club in order to celebrate the 66 years since the birth of Bob Marley as well as the 50th birthday of the band frontman Jovan Mati? and the band's 25th anniversary. On June 10, 2011, they released the single "Horoskop" ("Horoscope"), as the announcement of the upcoming studio album.